


Separate Worlds

by faithfulpenelope



Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Academy Era, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-12
Updated: 2017-01-12
Packaged: 2018-09-17 03:25:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 9,543
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9302111
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/faithfulpenelope/pseuds/faithfulpenelope
Summary: Joanna McCoy is, to Jim, a bit like a wormhole.He understands she exists.  He knows it is possible to visit her (Bones does, whenever he can).  He can, if pressed, give a fairly accurate description of the physics of her being.  But, for the very life of him, he just cannot picture actually experiencing her in person.Then one day she comes to visit.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I usually don't do Joanna McCoy but sometimes Cute Dad Bones is too much to resist.

Joanna McCoy is, to Jim, a bit like a wormhole.

He understands she exists. He knows it is possible to visit her (Bones does, whenever he can). He can, if pressed, give a fairly accurate description of the physics of her being. But, for the very life of him, he just cannot picture actually experiencing her in person.

Then one day she comes to visit.

xxxxxxx

They’re in the middle of an epic make-out session – a five-minute study break that started forty minutes ago – when a comm buzzes.

Jim freezes for a split second. “Not medical,” he confirms, and reattaches himself to Bones’s mouth.

“Not medical,” Bones grunts under him, not-so-gently shoving him up and away, “Jocelyn.”

Jim rolls off him, tries not to pout as Bones hurries across the room to his screen. Bones’s contact with his ex-wife is strictly regimented – calls from Joanna come every third day, precisely at 7:30 p.m. Atlanta-time, with weekly parental discussions coming after – so if she’s calling, she’s got a good reason. Last time she called off-schedule, it was to tell Bones Joanna had broken her leg on the playground. Jim had never seen Bones board a shuttle so fast.

He grabs his PADD, makes a conscious effort to resume studying – contrary to popular belief, Jim does have some sense of proper boundaries and the concept of eavesdropping – as Bones answers the call. He’s halfway through his notes when Bones reappears, a wild look on his face, one that Jim cannot even begin to interpret.

“Uh,” he says intelligently. “What’s happening?”

“Joanna’s coming here,” Bones says breathlessly, and Jim’s eyebrows just about fly off his head. “Jocelyn’s got this work emergency she can’t get out of that’s gonna take her off-planet for four days, and her parents are away on Titan, and she thought maybe I could take her and she’s dropping her off tomorrow and oh _dear God_ , I have to clean this place.”

Jim resists the urge to tell Bones his suite really couldn’t get much cleaner – although putting away the row of whiskey bottles above the sink might be a good idea – and goes the supportive boyfriend route instead. “That’s…cool?”

“I have to go grocery shopping,” Bones says, and it’s clear he hasn’t even heard Jim. “I have to reschedule my shifts for the next few days and _shit_ , my classes.” Bones’s class schedule is slightly lighter this semester, the fact that he’s already licensed and his work at the hospital allowing him to opt out of all sorts of requirements, but he’s still got class three days a week. “I can get out of xeno-bio and quantum chem but practical training in my flight class starts this week and I’m barely hanging on as is.”

“I can watch her.” The words are out of his mouth before his brain can protest, and he has to imagine the look of shock that rolls across Bones’s face is matched by his own. “I mean, if you want,” he hastily adds. “It’s cool if you make other arrangements.”

Bones is quiet for a moment. Jim braces himself for an awkward _thanks, but no thanks_. “You’d do that?” he says instead, and Jim blinks at the awed confusion in Bones’s voice.

“Yeah, sure. She’s your kid, Bones.” He grins. “I mean, she can’t be any more cantankerous than you, right?”

Bones huffs out a short breath, mumbles something about _just you wait,_ but then he’s on top of Jim, kissing him, and Jim melts. “Thank you,” Bones gasps in between kisses, and Jim just nods, pulls him back into a tight embrace.


	2. Chapter 2

It turns out Jim’s got class when Jocelyn’s shuttle is due to land. He’s secretly thankful for it; the thought of hovering behind while Bones greets his child and ex-wife gives him hives. He sits through Advanced Subspace Geometry instead, remembering occasionally to look like he’s paying attention, as he tries to imagine just what it’s going to be like to meet his boyfriend’s daughter.

They’ve been together for a year or so now, although there’s no anniversary, no first date to speak of, just a natural progression. Nights on Bones’s couch somehow become nights in Bones’s bed; Bones begrudgingly surrendering half his space to quell Jim’s complaints of a sore back becomes a warm arm around his waist, Bones pressed up tight against him. Quick slipping out of bed before the other woke becomes deep morning stretches and murmurs of five more minutes until one day Jim doesn’t pull away when Bones catches his eye, just leans in and kisses him. When they pull apart, Bones just smiles.

But the thing is, him and Bones, the Academy, that’s not the only world Bones has; his life with Jim and his life in Georgia are two separate and distinct entities. This has, up until now, not bothered Jim; in fact, he prefers it that way. He has no great urge to meet Jocelyn; he knows he’s only heard one side of the story but he hates her nonetheless for the pain she’s put Bones through, even if they have managed to get back to civil since he got to San Francisco. And as for Joanna: it’s not so much that he doesn’t like kids as he cannot even fully comprehend even the thought of having one. He’s only 22, only just managed to get his life out of the shitter; he’s got the Academy to complete and a starship to earn before he can even think about things like marriage and kids and settling down. And the fact that Bones already has already been married and has a kid – that kind of maturity, it’s kind of terrifying to Jim. Shit, he counts it a victory if he makes it to class on time and remembers to eat, all in one day.

So he sees Bones off when he goes east, welcomes him back with open arms and great sex, and doesn’t ask much about what happens in between. There had been one time where Bones has asked him, a little drunk, to come home with him to Georgia; the mere thought had given Jim a little bit of a panic attack and he’d begged off, claiming Pike had signed him up for a special seminar during the same week. But now fate, in the form of Jocelyn, has delivered Georgia – Joanna – to Jim’s front door. And the way he figures it, he has two choices: claim a heretofore unrealized term paper and hide in the library for four days, or face reality and the fact that his boyfriend’s daughter is an actual human being and not just some abstract notion.

A few hours later, he stands in front of Bones’s door, sweating. Profusely. Wondering if he can get one of his professors can assign him an additional term paper. A long one, due as soon as possible.

 _It’s just Bones,_ he tries to tell himself. _Well, Bones and mini-Bones. You can do this_.

He takes a deep breath, mops his brow, and rings the chime.

The door slides open. Bones squints at him from the kitchenette counter. “Did you seriously just ask permission to enter?” he says by way of greeting, and Jim huffs.

“I was trying to be _appropriate_.”

Bones barks out a laugh. “Well, I’ll be damned. Will wonders never cease.” He jerks his head. “Get in here, already.”

Jim steps in, cautious, as if an enemy combatant might come barreling at him at any moment. “She’s in the bedroom,” Bones says, answering Jim’s unasked question. Then he pulls Jim over, drops a kiss on his cheek. Jim immediately breathes easier.

“How was the hand-off?” he asks. Bones shrugs.

“As good as could be expected. Jocelyn spent twenty minutes going through every second of her daily schedule and then handed me a PADD of twenty different contacts I could call for help, because I’ve apparently never met my daughter before.” Jim scowls but Bones just sighs. “I mean, I understand she’s nervous. And I appreciate the fact that she suggested it at all.”

“She’s your kid. It should be her first thought that you could watch her.”

Bones gives him a long, fond look, before he knocks his forehead against Jim’s. “My champion,” he rumbles, and Jim flushes, embarrassed at the uncontrollable pleasure that blooms in his chest.

“Yeah, well,” he mumbles, his cheeks hot.

Bones chuckles, gives him one last shoulder bump before he straightens. “Joanna!” he calls. “Come on out, sugar. I’ve got someone for you to meet.”

“Comin’!” a little voice hollers back. Then the doors to the bedroom slide open, and Jim holds his breath as Joanna McCoy steps out.

Her dark hair is pulled back in neat twin braids, the ribbons at the ends matching the gingham of her dress. She’s got Jocelyn’s coloring but Bones’s eyes and a nose that must be a dominant McCoy gene because it matches her father’s perfectly. She’s tiny – not that Jim is all that up to date on the standard heights and weights of humanoid children, but _geez_ – and is quite possible the cutest thing Jim’s even seen.

She regards him coolly from her place in the doorway in what he can only imagine is an imitation of her mother’s standard glare. “Joanna,” her father warns. She frowns. Bones frowns back.

Jim reminds himself that he is the _adult_ in the situation and bites the bullet, steps forward. “Hi, Joanna,” he says, fighting the urge to wipe a sweaty palm on his pants. “I’m Jim. It’s very nice to finally meet you.”

She holds a steady gaze for a moment more. Then she sticks out one tiny hand. “Joanna McCoy,” she states, as if it’s a business luncheon, and Jim has to bite his cheek to hold back a laugh as he shakes it. “Nice to meet you, Mr. Jim.”

“Oh, it’s just Jim,” he says automatically, and she gives him a patented Bones eye roll.

“I’m not to call adults by just their first name,” she chastises him. “It isn’t proper.”

“Oh,” Jim says dumbly.

She drops his hand, leans around him. “Can I go change now?” she asks her father, who laughs.

“Go on,” he says, and she scampers back into the bedroom. Jim watches the door close before he turns back.

“Bones.” He still isn’t quite sure what’s just happened. “Bones, your kid.”

“I know,” the other man says. “Believe me, I know.”

“I can’t – she’s freaking adorable, man, but why do I feel like I’ve just been schooled?”

Bones sighs. “She comes by it naturally, I guess. God help the first kid to try and court her one day.”

“She’s like, you and Jocelyn, concentrated,” Jim says, which sounds dumb even to his own ears but he can’t figure out any other way to express himself. “I’m a little in awe.”

“She’s something special, all right.” The fatherly pride rolls off him in waves, and it pings something deep in Jim’s chest, something he’d rather not address, so he just clears his throat, steps around to help Bones with the table settings. “Why did she want to go change?” he asks suddenly. Bones snorts.

“Because the outfit she was just wearing now? That was a hundred percent Jocelyn’s doing. She’s been itchin’ to get it off ever since her mama’s shuttle took off, but I told her she had to stay presentable at least long enough to meet you.”

Joanna bounds out of the bedroom, moving much freer now in a ragged pair of cords and a t-shirt. She skids to a stop in front of her father and tilts her head, and Bones leans down and gently undoes the braids. When he’s done she shakes out her hair with a satisfied sigh.

“Those darned brains were pullin’ on my brain,” she complains. Bones just shakes his head, turns her so they’re face to face.

“What in the world is that on your shirt?” he asks. Jim perks up.

“It’s a sehlat,” he says, and Joanna looks up at him in surprise. “It’s like the Vulcans’ version of a dog.”

“Don’t look like a dog,” Bones says suspiciously.

“No, Daddy, he’s right. Vulcan kids keep ‘em as pets.” She turns her gaze back to Jim. “We met one once, on a school trip. It was huge.”

“No way,” Jim says, and Joanna nods vigorously, as if to say, _it’s true_. “That’s so cool. I’ve never seen one in person before.”

Joanna beams. “This one was thirty years old, which isn’t really even that old for a sehlat,” she says, and it’s like opening the flood gates, the way the story just pours out of her. Jim blinks twice and finds that he’s already fallen behind. Bones must sense his confusion because he leans close and murmurs, “no sense in trying to keep up, just nod along,” in Jim’s ear.

“This is normal?” Jim whispers back as Joanna leaps up and starts to act out a very enthusiastic representation of sehlet hunting habits. Bones snorts and hands him a bowl of pasta.

“Oh, she’s just getting started.” They watch her for a few more minutes before Bones whistles, waves her off the couch. “Eat, child. God knows you need to replace all the energy you expend.”

“Did you know plants get their energy from the sun just like we get energy from food?” Joanna demands of Jim before she shoves a forkful of spaghetti into her mouth.

“I did,” Jim says.

“Did you know it’s called photosynthesis?” she says around her food, pasta bits spraying everywhere, and Jim snorts a little pasta sauce as the laughter catches him off-guard.

“Joanna,” Bones admonishes. “Whatever you have to say can wait until you _swallow your food_.”

She glares as him, affronted, as if to say, _no, it won’t_.

“Did you know that on some planets, everything uses photosynthesis, even the animals?” Jim offers, and Joanna’s eyes go wide. Her gaze darts over to her father for confirmation.

“It’s true. They don’t eat at all. Don’t even have stomachs.”

“Whoa.” She nods her head towards Jim in a show of reluctant respect. “You must be almost as smart as my daddy,” she says.

“I can only hope,” Jim deadpans as Bones cackles, and kicks at him under the table.

Dinner ends but her dissertation doesn’t, as photosynthesis gives way to popular music and somehow back around to sehlats, and then she’s fighting to keep her eyes open as she explains the social politics of Peachtree Elementary, how _Ginny says I can’t have any other best friends besides her, but I told her, you ain’t my boss._ Bones nods along, agrees patiently, even as he’s lifting her up to take her to bed.

Jim sees himself out, and wonders what exactly he’s gotten himself into.


	3. Chapter 3

He wakes up the next morning and realizes something: he has no idea how much he’s supposed to be around.

Normally, he just shows up whenever he wants; Bones either goes along or points him to the sofa – or the bedroom – until he’s finished what he’s doing.  But now – he doesn’t want to be the disappearing douchebag but he doesn’t want to kill all their daddy-daughter time either, and  _damn it,_  he’s not used to putting this much thought into him and Bones, and it’s  _hurting his brain_.

He tells Gaila as much over lunch.  “It’s not like I know, right?” he says, getting himself worked up all over again.  “I mean, the only parent-child experience I have is occasional chats with my mom over subspace.”  

Gaila chooses, wisely, to bypass the subject of his mother and says simply, “I think you may be overthinking this a little.”  She giggles.  “I guess there really is a first time for everything.”

“Hey!”  

She pats his hand.  

“I just…” he sighs.  “That’s his  _family_ , you know? I don’t want to mess it up.”

“Oh, Jim.”  She gets that look in her eye, like Jim’s a little lost puppy, and he huffs, turns his gaze away.  He  _hates_  that look.  “You’re his family, too, you know,” she says softly.

“There’s family, and there’s  _family_ ,” he mutters, ashamed at the edge of bitterness in his voice.  “And I’ve never been that kind of  _family._ ”

“Well, look at it this way.  Here’s your chance to talk to him about it.”  She nods her head towards the door and there they are, Bones in his cadet uniform – time off or not, you want to eat in the mess, you wear the digs – and Joanna in a little red sweater, obviously meant to mimic her father’s jacket, right down to a small mock insignia right above her heart. Her hair is pulled back into a mess of a ponytail and she clings to her father’s hand as she surveys the mess hall.  

And Jim – well, he thinks his heart might explode right in his chest.

“ _Oh_ ,” Gaila breathes next to him.  “ _Oh,_ if that isn’t the  _cutest_ thing I’ve  _ever_ seen.”  

“It’s crazy, right?” Jim manages.  “I kind of don’t even know what to do with it.”

Bones spots him, points him out to Joanna, who takes off in a full run. He blinks and she’s there, climbing up into the chair next to him with a grin.  “Heya, Mr. Jim,” she announces.  “What’s up?”

“Not much,” he says back.  “What’s up with you?” 

“Daddy said we needed to come find you to make sure you ate lunch.”  She nods toward his tray.  “And you did!  Good job, Mr. Jim.”

“Uh, thanks?”

“You’re welcome,” she chirps.  “You’re very pretty,” she adds.

Jim blinks. “Um -” 

“Thank you,” Gaila says, and Jim realizes with a relieved blush that Joanna had been talking to the Orion, not him.  “So are you.  I’m Gaila, by the way.”

“Joanna McCoy,” she replies, darts a hand out so fast Jim has to duck out of the way.  Gaila gives it a hearty shake.

“Joanna, did your daddy do your hair this morning?” she says gently, her lip twitching.  Joanna sighs, looks upward as if she could see it for herself.

“God bless him, he tried,” she says wearily, sounding for all the world like Jim’s grandmother.  “Told him I would do it myself, but he insisted.”

“Would you like me to fix it?”

Joanna’s face lights up and then she’s scrambling over to stand in front of her.  Gaila coaxes her hair free of the ponytail and runs her long fingers through it, massaging the scalp.  Joanna sags against her, her eyes drifting shut, and makes a small sound like a purr.

“How come you don’t help me with my hair anymore?” Jim murmurs, a little jealous, and Gaila laughs. 

“What the –” A tray heaving with two meals drops to the table so Bones can fix his hands to his hips.  “Joanna, what in the world, girl?”

“Miss Gaila’s doing my hair, just like hers!”

“What was wrong with how I did it?” Bones asks.  He sounds slightly put out, and Joanna finally opens her eyes, fixes him with a  _poor little dear_ look.

“Nothing, Daddy, nothing at all,” she soothes gently, like Bones is a wild colt, and sure enough, he melts, hands dropping to his sides.  “It’s just Miss Gaila offered – don’t sit there, I’m sittin’ next to Mr. Jim – and it would have been rude to say no.”

Bones huffs but doesn’t protest, just moves one chair over, and Jim coughs into his elbow in a poor attempt to hide his laughter. 

“What?” Bones snaps.

“Nothing, Bones,” he echoes.  “Nothing at all.”

“Don’t give me that face.”

“I’m not giving you any kind of face,” Jim protests mildly, well-aware he’s  _gazing_  at Bones, in a way not unlike a love-struck teenager.  Bones scowls back, but it’s belayed by the bashful upward pull at the corner of his lips, a slight acknowledgement that he knows he’s a pushover but doesn’t much care.

“Incorrigible,” he mumbles instead, and Jim grins. 

“As much as I hate to break our little  _lunch date_  up,” Gaila says sweetly from behind him, and gives Joanna’s hair a final pat, “but we’ve got a lab to get to, Jim.”

“But we just got here!” Joanna whines.  She turns doe eyes on Jim.  “You’re comin’ over for dinner, right, Mr. Jim?”

“Um,” Jim says, tosses a panicked look in Gaila’s direction, but she looks innocently away.  “Uh, I’m not sure –”

“Yeah, Mr. Jim,” Bones says, lips twitching.  “You’re comin’ over for dinner, right?”

 “Sure,” Jim agrees, tries not to think about the flush of satisfaction he feels.  “I’ll be there.”

 xxxxxxx

But then he gets there, and Joanna greets him with a very funny look in her eye.  

It stays there, all through dinner, even as she runs through what Jim is realizing must be her daily dinner monologue.  Jim can’t shake the feeling she’s just waiting for  _something_ to happen, although he doesn’t know if it will be to her, or to  _him_.  

He’s helping Bones clean up when a little hand wraps around his wrist.

“Mr. Jim, you should come over here,” Joanna says, tugging him towards the couch, but now her eyes are fixed on her father, as if to say,  _and you should stay over there_.  Jim glances at Bones, who squints skeptically but relents.

“I guess I’ll just, uh, get your pajamas ready,” he says, and disappears into the bedroom.  Joanna watches him go, then yanks Jim down next to her.

“I –  _oh_ , okay,” he says as he lands awkwardly on the couch.  “Something on your mind, Joanna?”

“I need to talk to you about Daddy,” she hisses.

Jim freezes, because he’s had this conversation before, with his first girlfriend, and it did  _not_  end well.  

“Look.  I didn’t say nothin’ before because I didn’t know you from Adam, and I didn’t wanna put Daddy’s business out there,” she says, and Jim squints at her and thinks,  _how are you even real_.  "But now that we're friends and all -"

"We're friends?" Jim says.  He's going for  _mildly amused_  but ends up at an embarrassing  _mildly weepy_  instead, and is thankful Joanna mostly ignores him.

"My daddy may be the smartest guy around, but he isn't so great at taking care of himself," Joanna says.  She pulls a meal-replacement bar out from God-knows-where and waves it at him.  "Like when he starts eatin'  _these_  instead of real food."

"I’ve noticed that," Jim says neutrally.

"He also works so hard he forgets to sleep sometimes, which is the  _craziest_  darn thing I've ever heard of, but it's true," Joanna adds.

"I've notice that too," he says, omitting the rest of the truth, namely, that half the time, Bones is awake because of Jim.  

"So I was worried, given that I'm all the way in Georgia, that he didn't have anybody keepin' him in line," she says, like she's his mother and not his  _seven-year-old_  daughter, but Jim just purses his lips and lets her finish.  "But it seems like - maybe you could do that for him, Mr. Jim?  Look out for him when I'm not around?"  

It rips his heart open, the earnest love in her eyes, and he finds himself nodding a little frantically in response.  "Yeah, okay," he says, his voice dangerously thin.  

"You'll think about it?" she says hopefully, and he wants to tell her,  _there's no need for thinking, kid, I'm already all aboard that particular train,_  but he just nods.  She gives a happy little sigh and smiles wide, pats the hand that's laying on the couch between them.

"You're a keeper, Mr. Jim," she praises, and he laughs, wonders why that should mean so much to him.

“If you two are done gabbin’, it’s bedtime,” Bones says from the doorway and Joanna rolls her eyes, jerks her thumb in her father as if to say,  _can you believe this guy_.

“Joanna,” he says warningly.

“You’re gonna come watch me tomorrow, right?” she asks Jim.  “What are we gonna do?”

 _What_ are _we going to do_ , Jim thinks, slightly panicked, because he still has no clue.  “It’s a surprise,” he promises.  

“Well, whatever it is, it’s gotta be better than Daddy – you know.”  She flies a wobbly hand through the air.  “Tryin’ to keep his breakfast down.”

“ _Hey_!” Bones barks as Jim huffs out a shocked laugh.  “Go get your pajamas on and  _leave off the attitude,_ ” Bones orders, and Joanna sighs, drags herself dramatically towards the bathroom. He points a finger at Jim.  “And  _you,_  stop laughing.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Jim manages from where he’s hiding behind a pillow, as if his shaking shoulders haven't given him away.  “I –  _ow_.”  He plucks up the PADD digging into his side from where it had been wedged under the cushion.  It’s one of Joanna’s, the Peachtree Elementary logo clear across the back.  When Jim nudges it, it flickers on, Joanna's distinctive scrawl spread across it.  "What's this?"

Bones rolls his eyes.  "Her school science fair is coming up.  She usually wins but apparently last year some kid won with what she felt was a sub-par volcano.  She took it  _very_  personally."

"Huh," Jim says, the gears already turning.  

"She's driving herself and her mama crazy trying to think up something to avenge her honor with."

The idea forms all at once in Jim's brain and he barely avoids winging his knee against the coffee table as he scrambles up.   "Hey, I gotta go."

"Wha - okay?"

"I just remembered I gotta check on something at the lab," Jim says.  He grabs his jacket and bag.  "Tell Joanna I say good night and I'll see you tomorrow!  Bright and early!"


	4. Chapter 4

It's a long night, and Jim has to call in a favor or two.  But the next morning, he's at Bones's door with a grin.  Bones squints at him.  

"Why do you look so happy?" he says immediately.

"It's a beautiful morning, and I get to spend it with a beautiful young lady," Jim retorts.  He leaves out the supplies he's left by the backdoor of Bones's building, out of sight.  "What's happening, kid?"

Joanna grins at him from her spot on the couch, her breakfast balanced carefully in her lap.  "Heya," she says around a mouthful of pancake.

"Joanna, for the love of - I know you weren't raised in a barn, girl," Bones chastises, and she huffs, rolls her eyes at Jim, who pointedly looks away, because no way he's suffering second-hand Bones wrath.  "Okay.  I have to go.  Jim, if anything happens, comm me.  If you need anything, comm me.  If you have a question -"

"Comm you," Jim and Joanna chorus, and Bones frowns.  

"Cute," he says dryly.  He points at Joanna.  "You be a good girl for Mr. Jim, you hear?"

"Yes, Daddy," she says dutifully.

"And you."  He points at Jim.  " _No hijinks."_

"Yes, Bones," Jim intones.  

Bones looks like he wants to smack him but he leans down, presses a kiss to Joanna's forehead instead, and then he's gone.

"So," Jim says, "I hear you have a science fair coming up."

Joanna's fork pauses midway to her mouth. 

"And I hear some kid took your award last year with a weak display."

" _Stupid_  Billy Masterson and his  _stupid_  volcano," she growls, and Jim grins.  

"You ever heard of a Da'Nanudian lava cloud?"

xxxxxxx

It takes a little more work than he anticipated, but Joanna is an enthusiastic helper, scurrying around him to hand off tools and chemicals.  The mixture finally turns blue and Jim whips out the safety goggles he purloined from the lab.  Joanna's already draped in one of Bones's t-shirts for stain control and a lab apron for safety, and Jim can’t resist giving himself a mental pat on the back for his good thinking.  

"You ready, kid?" he asks, holding out the trigger button, and Joanna's grin grows even wider as she grabs it.  "All right."  He pulls her back a few more feet.  "On the counter of three.  One, two, three -" and Joanna slams down the button.

Just as Bones rounds the corner.  

For a split second their eyes connect before the lava cloud  _explodes._  

There’s a dull roar as rainbow-colored goo sprays downward, splattering hard in a wide radius against the tarp Jim's laid out before turning red and solidifying instantly into sharp little peaks.  Joanna squeals in delight. 

"What in the  _hell_?"  

"Daddy!" she hollers.  "Me and Mr. Jim built a  _lava cloud_!"

"A  _lava cloud_?" Bones booms.

"And he's gonna help me build it for my science fair!" she whoops, and Jim cringes. 

"I didn't - I never - I said  _maybe_ it  _might_  work," he protests.  " _With permission from your parents._ "

"You said you'd help me so I could show Billy Masterson what's what," Joanna counters.  Jim whips around, eyes her hard.  She rolls her eyes.

"A lava cloud," Bones repeats.  "For your science fair."  

"Look, I might have said that, but I didn't mean - obviously, anything she does, she's gonna need permission -"

"Jim," Bones interrupts, and Jim freezes, braces himself for a lecture.  "You set all this up?  In twelve hours?"

Jim blinks.  "Wha - uh, yeah."  Nine hours, really, but Jim’s not going to argue the semantics.  “I thought she’d like it,” he adds, and it’s a thing of beauty, the way Bones’s eyes crinkle up at the edges when he smiles.

“Daddy, did you see it turn  _red_?  Mr. Jim says that’s because their atmosphere has  _iron_  in it –”

“Joanna.”

“- we don’t have iron in ours so we had to change up the formula a little to get the same effect but did you see it –”

“ _Joanna_.”

“ – the way it flew out before it hit the ground –”

“ _Joanna!_ ”  Bones kneels down in front of her.  “I want to hear about it, all of it,” he says, “but  _after_  we help Mr. Jim clean up.”

She claps her hands.  “That’s the  _best part_ ,” she squeals, and jabs a skinny finger into one of the craggy mounds.  It makes a soft  _poof_  noise and crumbles to dust.  She looks back at Bones, eyes shining.  “ _Instant clean-up_ ,” she intones in a poor but hilarious imitation of Jim’s voice, and Bones barks out a laugh.

“He really did think of everything,” he agrees, and the look he tosses back over his shoulder makes Jim’s cheeks flush bright and hot.

They’re filthy by the time they’re done – Jim and Joanna with the remnants of their set-up and Bones with the dust of a particularly large mound, poked to death by Joanna just as he leans down next to her to grab a pair of tongs – so Bones takes her into the bedroom to clean up as Jim replicates lunch.  When she emerges, Bones sits her down on the couch, hands her a plate and the holoscreen remote before he turns to Jim.

“So I’m guessing you need some help,” he says in a strangely stilted voice.  Jim stares at him, baffled.  “Getting all that goop off,” Bones elaborates, and gestures vaguely towards Jim’s ruined clothes.  

“It kind of stained where it got through my clothes,” Joanna adds helpfully.  “Daddy really had to scrub my arms.”

“Yes,” Bones intones.  One eyebrow arches.  “Lots of  _scrubbing.”_

“Wha – oh.   _OH_. _Yes_ ,” he says, way too loud, before he clears his throat and tries again.  “Yes.  I do need some help.”

“Holler if you need us,” Bones says as he breaks for the bedroom.  Joanna waves a dismissive fork at him.

The doors slide shut behind them.  

“Bones, I am shocked at –  _mmfph._ ” Jim’s words die in his throat as Bones grabs him, kisses hard and deep.  It’s a little too rough, a little too wet, and yet perfect at the same time, and Jim moans when Bones pulls off.

“You  _fucker_ ,” Bones hisses, and Jim’s eyes bug a little.  “ _Damn you,_ Jim.”

“ _What_?” 

“You fucking work all night, come here with that insane contraption, just to make her happy –” He gives Jim a hard shake, kisses him again, his tongue hot and insistent against Jim’s.  His hands wrap around Jim’s hips, his shoulders, kneading deep into the muscle, just the way Jim likes it.  “You son of a  _bitch_.”

“I – I’m getting really mixed messages here,” Jim manages as Bones takes the lobe of an ear in his mouth and sucks hard.  “I –  _ah!_  – I honestly don’t know if you’re happy or upset.”

“You  _bastard_ ,” Bones snarls back, palms Jim’s ass.

“Still not very clear,” Jim squeaks.

“You want clear?” Jim’s back connects with the bathroom wall, the air rushing out of his lungs as Bones pins him there with his body.  He grabs Jim’s hand, puts it over his heart, and even through his clothing he can feel Bones’s heart beating out of control.  “You feel that?” he growls, tugs Jim’s hair, and Jim nods.  “That’s what you do to me.  You come here, spend all this time with her – time you don’t have – when you could have just disappeared for four days.  You volunteer to watch her and then you spend all night in the lab just to build her that fool  _lava cloud,_ make all sorts of plans to help her again – you  _care about her_ , Jim, and you don’t have to, but you  _do_.  You  _take care of her_.”  He presses his forehead to Jim’s, his breath coming in short pants against Jim’s cheek.  “And it’s not  _fair_ , Jim, because I already love you so much as it is and then you make me love you all the more.”

It’s not often Jim’s left speechless but here, pressed up against a bathroom wall, he finds himself completely without words.  But his heart – his heart hammers in his chest, as hard as the one under his hand, so he pulls Bones’s hand up to mirror his own, presses it down tight.

“You love her,” he whispers, the words finally coming back to him, a little at a time.  “What else could I do but try and take care of her?”

Bones kisses him again, and Jim realizes the cheek under his palm is wet.  He strokes the tears away, pulls Bones a little closer.

“Daddy?”

Joanna’s voice carries through the bedroom door.

“Daddy!”

“I’m comin’,” Bones calls back, his voice thick.  They peel themselves apart and Bones steps towards the door, but not before pausing, turning back.  “There’s a lot else you could have done, you know,” he says softly, his fingers still tangled in Jim’s.  “You could have walked away and waited for her to leave.  You could have walked away,  _period_.”

“Yeah, but that would have meant walking away from you,” Jim counters, still a little breathless, “and that’s never going to happen.”

Bones goes still for a brief second, then breathes a soft  _Jim_ and presses a kiss to his temple.  When he pulls back his eyes are clear and loving and warm, and as he walks out to help his daughter, Jim can’t help but think,  _maybe this is what family is supposed to feel like_.

The thought sticks with Jim more than he’d like to admit, all the way back to his dorm and into the dark of his room.

 _Maybe this is what family is supposed to feel like_.

It’s not ideal.  Him and Bones, hiding their relationship in plain sight from the Academy.  Bones, living three thousand miles from his daughter, happily surprised his ex-wife would think to reach out to him to watch their daughter.  And  _yet –_

This conscious effort they’re made, that Jim’s the West Coast and Joanna’s the East Coast, it’s made perfect sense.  It’s worked well.  But now Joanna’s here and the universes are merging and Jim – well, he thinks he might kind of like it.  He thinks it might actually be  _right._

He thinks it must go without saying that no one’s more surprised about it than him.

He lays in the dark, thinking about love and family and seven-year-old girls who like sehlats, until he finally falls asleep.  


	5. Chapter 5

One thing Jim learns pretty quick is that Joanna has a penchant for dropping potent little truth bombs into conversation and watching, passively, as they explode all over everything.  She's like her own little ground-to-heart rocket launcher, and Jim is both tremendously impressed and disturbed by it.

("I caught Aunt Victoria kissin’ the man that takes care of her flowers," she reveals one day at lunch, and Jim gapes at her, unable to answer.  Bones doesn't answer either, but that's because he's curled up in on himself, laughing so hard he can't breathe.

"I'm gonna be a doctor, just like you, and Grandpa David," she says ever so casually as she leans over Bones's shoulder, watching him finish some patient notes.  If Jim hadn't been so close he wouldn't have heard Bones's sharp inhalation of breath, and when Joanna bounces away to get ready for the park, he sinks down, holds tight onto Bones until the shaking stops.)

It’s her last day in San Francisco, and they're sitting outside the mess hall, enjoying the rare afternoon ice cream cone and a bit of relaxation when Joanna announces, "Mama has a new boyfriend".

This, in and of itself, is not a surprise.  Jocelyn had advised as much in one of their weekly discussions.  Bones had remained cordial, thanked her for letting him know before she introduced Joanna into the situation, and signed off.  Then he'd exploded into a furious rant about  _she took everything else, she has to fuck my best man too?_    

Jim had just kept his mouth shut.  This was a level of Southern Gothic he had  _not_  been prepared for. 

"How do you feel about that?" Bones asks finally, a forced evenness to his voice.  Joanna shrugs.

"He's all right," she says dismissively.  "He must think I'm stupid, because he introduced himself to me, like I ain't never met him before."  

Bones grits his teeth, take a deep, steadying breath before he speaks and Jim has to suppress the sudden urge to be somewhere, anywhere, else. "Well, it had been a while," he manages.  The rest of the truth swims right under the surface, that  _the last time you saw him, I was still married to your mama, and he and I were still friends._

"He tries too hard," Joanna says, "tries to get me on his side with presents and dolls and stuff.  Worst part is, he doesn't even bring me stuff I actually want."  

Bones huffs out a weak laugh, pulls Joanna in closer.  She squeaks as her ice cream wobbles precariously.  "That's my girl," he mutters, drops a kiss to the top of her head. "Don't let anybody ever try and bribe their way into your heart, sugar."

She rolls her eyes.  Then she fixes Bones with a stare.  

Bones squints back at her.  Then he tenses up, but it's too little, too late, the torpedo’s already left the housing.

"Are you and Mr. Jim boyfriends?" she asks, and Jim chokes on his ice cream cone.  

He hacks up a pained cough, milk product burning down his esophagus, and the sudden movement sends his dessert flying.  Joanna yelps and jumps out of its trajectory, and it splats to the ground, minty green against the pavement.  

For his part, Bones just sits there, stunned, ice cream dripping down over his slack fingers.  

Joanna tolerates this for about fifteen seconds, then asks, " _well_ , are you?"  When Bones just blinks at her, she turns to Jim, who frantically shakes his head and points towards Bones, because he’ll take a trip to Klingon hell before he takes on that question.

"Uhh," Bones says finally, "what, uh, would make you ask that?"

"Well," Joanna says, and Jim braces himself for impact, "he's always around, and you don't like anybody but me being around all that much.  You let him watch me when you were in class.  There’s an advanced warp theory PADD on your nightstand, and you got no reason to have one of them." She pauses to take a huge lick of ice cream.  "Plus I saw you and him kissing before he left last night."

Jim smacks a hand against his forehead.  Bones groans out a desperate  _Joanna_ , her name stretched long and thin.

"I  _wasn't snooping_ ," she takes pains to clarify, "I just needed a drink of water."

"That's not the issue - oh, dear God."  Bones pinches his nose.  "Okay.  Joanna, can you go play over there for just a minute?"

"But I -"

" _Joanna_."

She snaps her mouth shut, takes off towards the nearby playground and starts to climb.

Bones drops his head into his hands, takes a long, deep breath.  He's muttering unintelligibly to himself, doesn't even seem to know Jim's still there.  

Jim feels a sudden panic rising.  

 _This is it_ , he thinks, that inevitable moment when Bones's two lives intersect and he loses.  He'd been stupid to think it would ever happen any other way, should have known from the moment he'd learned Joanna was coming that this was the end of something -

"Okay," Bones says, lifting his head.  "Okay.  We have to figure out how to deal with this."

Jim swallows.  "I, uh - I'll do whatever you think is best," he says hoarsely.  "I'll go and you can tell her whatever you need to tell her - that it was my fault, I kissed you and -"

"Wait, what?" Bones cuts him off.  "Jim, why would I tell her that?"

Jim blinks.  "Because you were just freaking out at the thought of your daughter knowing about us?” he manages to get out.  “Which I  _get_ , Bones, I do, and I'm not going to jeopardize your relationship with her.  If she goes back and tells Jocelyn you're dating some  _guy_ – at least maybe we can mitigate the damage –”

"Hold on,” Bones interrupts.  “Are you –  do you think I’m going to pretend we’re not together?”  His eyes go suddenly wide.  “Do you think I think we should  _break up_?”

“I –”  

“Because I’m sorry,” Bones booms, and Jim actually staggers back a little, “but that is not how this is going down.”

"It's not?" he says faintly.

" _Jim_."  He wraps a hand around the nape of Jim's neck, pulls him close.  "Jim, I love you.  I'm not going anywhere.  Please tell me you believe that."  

The relief floods through him, warm and sharp, and Jim nods, grabs at Bones's hand and holds it in both of his own.  “Yes,” he says.  “Yes.  I believe it.”

"You’re right,” Bones says.  “I was freaking out, but  _not_  about us.  What I'm worried about is that I haven't said anything to Jocelyn yet.  She had the decency to tell her and Clay before she said anything to Joanna.  I was going to do the same, and talk to her when she picked Joanna up."

" _Oh_ ," Jim breathes.   _Bones was going to tell Jocelyn about them_.  His heart does a peculiar thump in his chest at the thought. 

"But I guess Joanna kind of forced our hand," Bones sighs.  "Always said she was too damned smart for her own good."

"Well, she is yours," Jim says, his smile weak but real.  Bones huffs out a short laugh, then clips Jim upside the head.  "Hey!"

"Thought I was breaking up with you," Bones scoffs.  "Damned idiot.  You think I'd put that much work into makin' you halfway decent for public interaction only to dump you?" 

“Making  _me_  halfway decent?”  Jim argues, then suddenly stills.  “You were going to tell Jocelyn about us.”

“Jim, we just went through this –”

“You’ve thought about this,” Jim interrupts.  “You’ve thought about all of this.  About me and Joanna  _meeting_.”

Bones peers at him, concerned, as if he wants to ask  _and when did this mental episode begin, sir?_   “You’re my boyfriend.  She’s my daughter.  Of course I’ve thought about you meeting.”

“Why didn’t you ever say anything?” Jim asks breathlessly, and Bones gives him  _that_ look, all  _really, Jim?_

“I asked you to come back to Georgia once,” he says evenly, “and you had a panic attack and made up some seminar.”

Jim’s stomach rolls in revolt.  “I didn’t – I just –” He stops himself, takes a deep breath.  “I was that obvious, huh?” he admits finally, and Bones gives a soft laugh.

“A kid would have been an outright deal-breaker for a lot of people,” he says.  “The fact that she wasn’t – I was grateful enough just for that.  I wasn’t about to push you to have a relationship with her if you didn’t want one.”

“I do,” Jim says immediately, because he does.  “I want to have a relationship with her.  How could I not?  She’s amazing, Bones.”

Bones doesn’t answer right away, just holds his gaze, hazel eyes shimmering.  Then he pulls Jim close, presses a soft kiss to the corner of his mouth.  “You’re pretty amazing yourself,” he whispers against Jim’s cheek, and Jim lets out a shaky breath.

“I guess we should answer her question then,” he says with a smirk, and Bones grins, leans around him.  

"Hey, Joanna?” he calls.  “You wanna come on back?"

Joanna approaches with a look of schooled regret on her face, and Jim snickers, because it's a good one.  Bones just smiles.  "You're not in trouble, sugar," he says, and Joanna relaxes.

"I wasn't supposed to ask?" she says, and Bones shakes his head.

"No, it's not that.  I'm glad you feel like you can ask and tell us these things.  It's just -" He pauses.  "How would you feel about it?  If Jim and I were boyfriends?"

"I wouldn't mind it," she says neutrally, but her eyes are sparkling, and Jim grins around the warm feeling in his chest.  "Mr. Jim is nice, and he does cool stuff with me, and doesn't treat me like a baby.  Plus, he makes you laugh, and I like it when you laugh, Daddy."  

"Yeah," Bones says softly, turning a fond gaze towards Jim, "that he does."

"So you are?  Boyfriends?"  Bones nods.  "Good.  You need someone to take care of you when I can't."  She turns to Jim, hands on her hips, a miniature trial lawyer.  "You gonna take care of my daddy, Mr. Jim?  Get him to laugh when he’s bein’ grumpy?  Make sure he doesn't work too much and that he eats normal food?"  She fixes him with a pointed stare.  “You gonna be his San Francisco family, Mr. Jim?”

"I…"  It feels ridiculously official, Joanna’s demands, almost like vows, and he figures that’s because it kind of is.  He swallows hard, takes a deep breath.  "Yes, Joanna, I will," he says, and means it. 

She nods, a sharp mark of approval.  "All right then." 

"All right then," Bones echoes with a wet laugh.  

“All right then,” Jim agrees, and feels his world shift.


	6. Chapter 6

The walk to the shuttle bay is a quiet one. 

Bones takes Joanna’s duffle, leaves her and Jim at the playground by the bay.  “I’ll let you know when we’re done,” he murmurs to Jim, his voice tight.  Jim squeezes his hand and nods.  Bones had asked him the night before to watch her while he talked to Jocelyn.

_“It’s not that I’m trying to shut you out of it –“ he starts, but Jim shakes his head, stops him with a kiss._

_“This is a conversation for Joanna’s mom and dad,” he says, and gives Bones a little smirk.  “You can introduce the boyfriend later.”_

The climbing frame is at the one end of the park, away from the activity of the shuttle bay, but Jim’s distracted with worst-case scenarios and doesn’t notice until they’re at the other end that Joanna has negotiated them steadily westward.  He looks down to see they have a clear view of the patio area, where her parents are deep in discussion.

"You'd make one heck of a tactical officer," he says in surprise.

"My mama says  _no Starfleet for you,_ but I figure I can probably get around that," she reveals, and Jim's eyes damn near bug out of his head.

 _I didn't hear that_ , he thinks.  "You didn't tell me that," he adds for good measure, and she smirks.

There's really no use in trying to wrestle her away, so Jim joins her on the ground.  Even from here he can tell that Bones is nervous; he's hunched over, elbows to his knees. Jocelyn's spine is as straight as his is bent, hands clasped in her lap.

"Mama doesn't look happy," Joanna murmurs next to him, and Jim pats her knee in what he hopes is a comforting gesture.  Down below, Jocelyn stiffens even further, folds her arms tight across her chest as she says something quiet but emphatic.  Bones shakes his head, protesting, and when Jocelyn refuses to give, he throws his hands up in the air.  

"Uh-oh," Jim says.

"Uh-oh is right," Joanna agrees.  "Hands in the air is never good."

Something twinges in Jim's chest and he turns his attention from Bones and Jocelyn to the girl sitting next to him.  "It must be hard," he says softly, “your parents struggling like that."

She gives a little shrug.  Her face is impassive but there's a definite strain around her eyes.  "Better than when they were together.  They tried not to fight around me, but I'm not stupid.  After they would come and tell me how much they love me."  She rubs a teary eye with the sleeve of her shirt and Jim wraps an arm around her shoulders, holds her close.  "I just wanted them to love each other.”

“I’m sorry you had to go through that,” he murmurs.

“Then one day Daddy came and told me he was gonna go live somewhere else, and I – I thought,  _good, maybe if he’s gone the fighting will stop_.”  The words come out like a flood she can’t control and she makes a soft pained noise, looks pleadingly at Jim.  “Don’t tell him I said that,” she begs, and Jim shakes his head. 

“I wouldn’t, I promise.”

“I never wanted him to leave, I just wanted them to stop fighting.  I love Daddy, I want him home, I do –”

“I know you do,” he soothes, squeezing her hand.  “I know you do, Joanna.  You didn’t say anything wrong.”

She lets out a shaky breath and for a minute they sit quiet.  Then she whispers, “never told nobody that before,” and Jim’s heart breaks a little.

“I –”  He clears his throat, tries to get rid of some of the shakiness.  “I’m glad you felt you could tell me.  And if you ever need to talk – well, that’s what comms are for, right?”

She gives a sharp nod and a little smile.  “Mr. Jim?”

“Yeah, kid?”

“I’m really glad my daddy found you.”  She lays her head down on his shoulder and Jim has to blink hard to clear the tears.  

“Me too, kid,” he says.  “Me, too.”

xxxxxxx

Up close, Jocelyn is stunning, perfectly put together even after a day of travel.  Bones introduces them and Jim cycles through a winsome  _I see now where Joanna gets her beauty from_  and a vindictive  _maybe if I were your former maid of honor, this wouldn’t all be so weird for you_  before he settles on a blandly diplomatic, “it’s nice to finally meet you.”

“It’s a pleasure,” Jocelyn intones back in a tone that makes it clear it is not, in fact, a  _pleasure_.  She’s clearly waiting for him to say something, probably expecting him to  _thank_  her, to which Jim thinks,  _fuck that_ , so he says, “Joanna’s a really great kid,” instead. 

Jocelyn’s mouth puckers, just a pinch, and she murmurs, “so glad you approve,” so subtly dismissive that Jim thinks he may have imagined it until he sees Bones’s mouth set in a deep scowl.  Joanna seems to sense her father’s distress and curls her little hand into his. 

“Mr. Jim offered to help me with my science fair project,” Joanna offers up, quieter than Jim’s used to from her, “so long as you say it’s okay.”

Jim barely bites back a satisfied  _ha!_  as Jocelyn looks up, obviously surprised that Jim would have taken any kind of long-term interest in the situation.  “Well, we’ll have to discuss that later,” she says, and Joanna smiles.  Her voice is completely different with her daughter and Jim realizes that she must have talked to Bones like that too, back when they were young, when they were happy.  “But for now, we need to say our goodbyes.  Our shuttle’s leaving soon.”

Joanna’s lip wobbles for a brief second before she nods.  Jim kneels as she steps up to him.  “I’m sure glad I finally got to meet you,” he says.  He has to force the words past the tightness in his chest.  “And we’ll talk.  About,  _you know_.”  He mimics a small explosion and she laughs.

“I’m sure glad I met you too,” she says, and then her arms are around his neck, squeezing tight.  “And thank you,” she whispers, her breath soft on his ear.  “For taking care of Daddy.”

“I’ll keep him safe,” he says as they pull apart.  “Promise.”

She nods, pats his cheek one last time.   Then she turns to her father, and a sob wracks her little body.  Bones drops to his knees, right onto the concrete, pulls her into his arms, and Jim has to look away from the anguish he sees in Bones’s face.  He hears Bones murmuring soft words, promises of  _I’ll see you again soon_  and  _I’ll miss you too, so much_ , and  _I love you, Joanna, more than anything_.  

The overhead speakers ring out a departure warning.

Jim watches Jocelyn wipe her eyes before she touches her fingertips to the nape of Bones’s neck.  “Leo,” she says softly, and Bones nods.  

“Yeah, okay.”  Bones stands Joanna up straight, wipes her face with his sleeve.  “You be a good girl for your mama,” he whispers, and Joanna gives a little nod.  

“I love you.”

“I love you too,” she whimpers.   Bones holds her face, presses a firm kiss to her forehead.  His eyes are squeezed shut.

“Okay.  Go on, now.” He stands, ushers her towards her mother, who wraps her daughter up tight against her side.  “You two be safe.”

“You too,” Jocelyn says.  She pauses, glances towards Jim.  “Both of you.”

Jim just nods, and they turn away.

He and Bones watch in silence as they disappear into the shuttle bay.  Then Bones breathes out a broken  _god damn it_  and drops his head.  

“Hey,” Jim murmurs, wraps an arm around his shoulders and pulls him against his side.  “I’m here. Tell me what I can do.”

“I just –” Bones drags in a ragged breath.  He grabs the hand handing around his neck and squeezes tight.  “Just – bring me home and stay close, okay?  Please.”

“Of course,” Jim swears, and Bones sighs deep, leans in a little closer.  “Always, Bones.  Always.”


	7. Chapter 7

_Three months later._

“Bones!  Joanna’s calling!”  

Bones appears from the kitchenette, hip-checks Jim from in front of the viewscreen.  “Hey!”

“Just ‘cause you’re the current favorite doesn’t mean I don’t get the prime spot,” he grouches, and Jim grins.

It had been a long few weeks after Joanna’s visit.  Jocelyn and Bones, they’d left the shuttle bay that day with a tentative truce, although Jocelyn clearly wasn’t thrilled about the turn of events.  Jim’d been pissed, because  _seriously_ , it was the twenty-third century, who even  _cared_  about two guys dating anymore, but Bones had just laughed, explained she wasn’t pissed he was with a guy, she was pissed he was  _happy._   

_“Oh, that’s not any less fucked up!” Jim hollers._

_“No – that’s not what I meant.  Look, what killed us in the end is that we just couldn’t figure out how to move forward, right?  And then I move here and met you and…” he catches Jim by the waist, pulls him tight up against his chest.  “Well, shit.  Now we’re going so far we’re gonna end up in the stars.”_

The comm line chimes and then there she is, bright eyes and a huge smile, brown hair fighting to escape the braids her mother had painstakingly weaved.  “Daddy!  Where’s Uncle Jim?”

Jim cackles as Bones barks, “are you  _serious?_ ”, then slides over to allow him room. 

“Heya, kid!”

Joanna shoves a first-place science fair ribbon in front of the screen, and Jim whoops out an enthusiastic  _yes_.  “They didn’t know what hit ‘em,” she hoots.  “Billy Masterson left the gym  _cryin’_!”

“Joanna!” Bones admonishes, but it’s hard when he’s laughing behind his hand.  “Let’s try to be a gracious victor, huh?”

“I didn’t say anything to him,” she protests.  “Shook his hand and everything.  Not my fault he couldn’t handle it.”

“ _Joanna_.”

“Anyway,” she says pointedly, and Bones sighs, “I just wanted to say thanks for your help, Uncle Jim.”

“You’re welcome,” he says.  “But you realize now you’ll have to come up with something even better next year?”  

She shrugs, unperturbed. “That’s what I got you for!” she says with a cheeky grin, and there it is, that warm feeling in his chest again.

 _This is my family,_ he thinks, and really believes it.

“Yeah,” he says quietly, and Bones’s hand slips into his, fingers weaved tight.  “It is.”


End file.
